DUNE (AS.. 0110. diin. Ger. Dane, Fr. dune, from Ir. dun. hill. fort. Welsh din, Gall. dfinon; ultimately connected with AS.. leel. tun, Eng. town. 0110. :lin, Ger. Zentrz, hedge). The name first given to the sand-hills or mounds which stretch along the seacoast of the Netherlands and the north of France. The English term Downs (q.v.) has a similar meaning. Drift sand-hills or dunes arc found in all regions of sandy, arid soil, which arc subject to brisk and high winds. Along the sandy Atlantic eoast of North America, from Cape Cod to Cape Canav eral and beyond. such wind-built hills of moving sands are common features. lu this region they are found from five to forty feet in height, while on the coasts of the Bermudas or Bahamas they reach a height of l00 to 200 feet. They also eharaeterize portions of the shores of Lake Michigan. the Caspian Sea, Sea of Aral, and other inland water bodies.
Concerning the growth of the dunes of the Netherlands. W. •hamhers's Tour in Holland "At low water, when the beach is ex posed to the action of the winds from the Ger man Ocean, clouds of sand are raised into the air. and showered down upon the country for at least a mile inland; and this constantly going on. the result is, that along the whole line, from Haarlem to about Dunkirk or Calais, the coast consists of sandy mounds of great breadth, par tially covered with grass and heath. but unfit for pasturage or any other purpose, and these are the bulwarks which protect the coast. In sonic places these dunes look like a series of irregular hills; and when seen from the tops of the steeples. they are so huge as to shut out the view of the sea." See DESERT: -EOLIAN ACCUMULATIONS.